1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bicycles, more particularly, to shock-absorbing bicycle seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bicycle seats or saddles that are commercially available today achieve a number of things successfully. 1. They are stable enough to safely support the rider's weight while being light enough so as to not excessively increase the net weight of the bicycle. 2. They are shaped in a way that enables the rider to sit in a variety of positions depending on changing terrain or pitches that the rider may travel. 3. The most common shape of bicycle seats has an elongated front “horn” that the rider straddles and that serves several functions: (a) It allows the up and down motion of the rider's legs to move relatively unhindered. (b) It automatically centers a rider over the center of the seat post and therefore squarely over the frame of the bicycle during pedaling. (c) It acts as a secondary method of steering the bicycle along with the handlebars as it enables the rider to shift the vertical angle of the bicycle in relation to the road with the inner thighs.
While most seats are effective in these and other ways, they are generally framed by two fixed, rigid members on the underside that become the backbone of the seat and the main support of the rider's weight. These members are fastened to the bicycle frame by means of a clamp and rigid seat post that renders the seats utterly unmovable and inflexible. This rigidity causes a number of major problems:
(1) Whenever a rider passes over a bump or dip in the terrain, the rigid attachment transfers all the force and energy of the bump directly into the rider's posterior, which can sometimes cause brief but noticeable pain, depending on how he is positioned on the seat at the time. While there are examples of commercially available seats that have coil springs built in so as to absorb and lessen the severity of this force, these can noticeably increase the overall weight of the seat. The springs can also result in an annoying bouncing reaction for several seconds after the bump, causing the rider to bodily bounce up and down until the inertia has dissipated.
2) The up and down motion of the rider's legs while pedaling causes constant, repeating, and alternating pressure on the inner rear thighs. This results in added long term stress to the joints of the hips and lower back as the rider is forced to subtly twist his spine and lift his legs off and on the seat on the upstroke and downstroke, respectively.
3) The rigid seat attachment causes chafing on the skin, muscles, and subcutaneous tissue of the buttocks and upper/inner legs, especially on longer rides. Due to the nature of pedaling a bicycle, there is no way to avoid some degree of chafing and body rocking inherent in the use of today's standard, commercially available bicycle seats.
4) In men, the pressure from sitting on a bicycle seat for long periods of time can bruise or damage the structures of the perineum between the scrotum and the anus. This pressure may bruise a nerve called the ilioinguinal nerve, which is the sensory nerve supply to the scrotum and penis. This neuropraxia, or nerve bruising, will cause numbness and, in extreme cases, can cause erectile dysfunction.